Well Naz,
It looks like that squeaker can stay on your handlebars.
Monsieur Gaulier spoke to me the other day and said that I had to stop writing in class, I asked him if I could write at home, he said... Non!
Far be it fro me to disagree with a genius, so I won't.
I have to learn to get more in my body and out of my head and all this reflection is keeping me stuck in there.
So, no more notebook, no more blog; what i need i will remember and what i don't remember doesn't matter.
If one day you see me on stage then you will know that it was goood advice and if you don't, well then you obviously go to see boring theatre.
Shame that I can't write this anymore, the secrets of school will stay with those who are here.
Au revoir
xxx
Thanks for reading
M.C. Donut
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
what are you doing here, you should belearning your lines
I was in a bad mood today, i don't know why but part way through movement I didn't want to be there. We were working in small choral groups and when it was my turn to lead I really didn't want to.
Maybe I'm just tired.
It is exhausting doing the 2 years at once.
Neutral Mask followed the same structure as previous classes, with Philippe trying to get us to play with the rhythm of snakes and ants.
As a group we aren't cut out for serpeants, Philippe told me that I reminded him of a python that had eaten a whole cow.
We are moving into a new stage of the workshop as we begin to work on text.
I want to get off script soon, Julia and I are working on the final scene from Medea. I have no idea how we will work it with Philippe I am excited about it though, I just want to be word perfect. Its strange I normally learn on my feet in the rehearsal room , i remember my first time round at drama school feeling slightly envious of my classmate Aled who seemed to pick lines up very quickly, its always taken me a bit of time, so to try and go in already off script will be a callenge but i get the impression he'll kick us off if we aren't bob on with the text.
In fact thats where i'm off to now, to try and learn some script.
Maybe I'm just tired.
It is exhausting doing the 2 years at once.
Neutral Mask followed the same structure as previous classes, with Philippe trying to get us to play with the rhythm of snakes and ants.
As a group we aren't cut out for serpeants, Philippe told me that I reminded him of a python that had eaten a whole cow.
We are moving into a new stage of the workshop as we begin to work on text.
I want to get off script soon, Julia and I are working on the final scene from Medea. I have no idea how we will work it with Philippe I am excited about it though, I just want to be word perfect. Its strange I normally learn on my feet in the rehearsal room , i remember my first time round at drama school feeling slightly envious of my classmate Aled who seemed to pick lines up very quickly, its always taken me a bit of time, so to try and go in already off script will be a callenge but i get the impression he'll kick us off if we aren't bob on with the text.
In fact thats where i'm off to now, to try and learn some script.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
The ridiculous motor
I'm back!
A well needed night off last night which was also a celebration.
Yesterday I flew in clown.
The exercise was one we did last week and one that I really wanted to have a go at; The Audition.
The exercise is simple: Monsieur Loyal is auditioning for a new actor, he says "Do we have an actor here?"
The Clown "Yeees! Me! I am an actor!"
Monsieur Loyal says "Ah you are an actor? Show me how an actor walks."
And from here the clown plays at pretending to be an actor for Monsieur Loyal.
He is pleased to speak to Monsieur Loyal because Monsieur Loyal is the boss of the circus. The main man.
Philippe likened it to a child talking to a teacher. "Yes Monsieur Loyal. Of course Monsieur Loyal. Ha ha ha Monsieur Loyal."
Last week Philippe worked a lot with everyone who got up and I really wanted that.
Andre was our Monsieur Loyal. Ah, Andre, such a generous straight man, I heard someone in school say of him that he is already a star. They might well be right. He is very quick on stage constantly suggesting games and he says yes to everything.
Yesterday Philippe worked with Kiki, a spanish street performer with a lot of experience and by his own admission, years of working on the street have meant that he has created a hard outer shell, a tough persona that he is struggling to crack. Philippe spent a while working with him trying to get him to open up, at moments it was difficult to watch because we could see him suffering but finally the mask fell and Kiki was there naked before us, Gone was the plastered on smile and the defensive posture, gone was the laughing at himself when he flopped and what we saw was on open soul, beautiful, fragile and full of humanity.
I was really glad for Kiki and touched to see him so vulnerable on stage. Philippe has promised him that he will be tough on him if he relies on his tricks anymore and I hope he does Kiki, its what Kiki wants.
I knew I wanted to get up and when Kiki sat I got up.
I went backstage with Andre, took my T-shirt off, I wanted to expose my wobbly bits. Put on the swimming cap, goggles and red nose.
Andre looked at me and said " Lets have some fun, eh?" or words to that effect.
The intro music struck up and Andre walked out on to stage.
I had seconds before I had to enter.
I shaved yesterday morning, hacked off the beard and the wispy bits that try to hide my jowels but I thought I'd leave myself a handlebar 'tache and the soul spot under the bottom lip.
I hadn't seen my face since shaving, when Andre entered I caught sight of my reflection in the window and smiled as I looked ridiculous.
half a second later I was on stage kept buoyant by the feeling of ridiculousness.
Philippe is right you have to feel ridiculous, without it how can you access your stupidity, so I guess this is the challenge for us wannabee clowns, how do we feel ridiculous, really ridiculous so that we can walk out and it has already started. The motor is already running.
I donb't know what happened out there, I think it helped that Philippe gave advice about the reltionship between Clown and Monsieur Loyal. I had that to focus on.
Andre was brilliant, in the sense that light can be brilliant, he really helped light the way for me.
Instead of just saying let me see you walk like an actor he said " Have you read the scene?"
"Yes Monsieur Loyal, of course I have read the scene, I have read the whole script."
"then we'll do the scene, are you ready Mr President."
" Are you ready Mr. President"
"No thats the cue and then you walk forward and you say I am the president."
" Ah yes, of course Monsieur Loyal.........."
To be truthful even if i could remember word for word how the scene went there would be little point in me writing it here.
It wouldn't be funny to read it. If you don't believe me try reading Tristan Remy's Clown Scenes. They don't come off the page.
What I can tell you is that at one point Philippe got me to lower my voice , it went through several stages, from angry glaswegian to Tommy Cooper via Yoda and Cookie Monster but the audience seemed to really like it, that's the beautiful and the terrifying part of clown yu know instantly, either they laugh or they don't there aren't any half measures.
Philippe also pointed out that I wasn't looking at Monsieur Loyal, thatI wasn't checking in to see if Monsieur Loyal approved of my "acting". Of course the maestro was right, I was playing out front and nothing was going to Andre, but once he pointed this out we really flew.
Suddenly there was game between us and the batting back and forth of the impulse started.
Quite what happened in the rest of the number I'm not too sure. At some point we switched and I ended up directing Andre.
There was a lot of laughter, a lot and when they weren't laughing for a few seconds it felt like an hour, I don't know if medically it is possible to become addicted to laughter but I feel like I've had my first hit of an intoxicating drug and I want more.
At the end Philippe said "It's good. Very Good." Aha high praise indeed.
I spoke to Philippe today, his advice was that my ideas are good but that I need to play more (that's not exactly the way he put it, damn you short term memory)that I could pretend to be more pretentious as the director.
He also talked about being in a groove, again not his terminology, and how we need to find that thing, the motor for the ridiculous.
Again I go looking for this. I want to know how to turn it on at will, once you find this, you enter with it and immediatly the audience laugh. Oh to find this motor, then great things will be possible.
I was chatting with Ed in the cafe du depart after class and he pointed out what he thought was the reason for the exercise, that if you can play for Monsieur Loyal with pleasure and look for his approval then it is only a matter of turning 90 degrees so that you do the same but for the audience. I like this, it make sense to me.
So know as well as finding the ridiculous motor I need to turn 90 degrees.
A well needed night off last night which was also a celebration.
Yesterday I flew in clown.
The exercise was one we did last week and one that I really wanted to have a go at; The Audition.
The exercise is simple: Monsieur Loyal is auditioning for a new actor, he says "Do we have an actor here?"
The Clown "Yeees! Me! I am an actor!"
Monsieur Loyal says "Ah you are an actor? Show me how an actor walks."
And from here the clown plays at pretending to be an actor for Monsieur Loyal.
He is pleased to speak to Monsieur Loyal because Monsieur Loyal is the boss of the circus. The main man.
Philippe likened it to a child talking to a teacher. "Yes Monsieur Loyal. Of course Monsieur Loyal. Ha ha ha Monsieur Loyal."
Last week Philippe worked a lot with everyone who got up and I really wanted that.
Andre was our Monsieur Loyal. Ah, Andre, such a generous straight man, I heard someone in school say of him that he is already a star. They might well be right. He is very quick on stage constantly suggesting games and he says yes to everything.
Yesterday Philippe worked with Kiki, a spanish street performer with a lot of experience and by his own admission, years of working on the street have meant that he has created a hard outer shell, a tough persona that he is struggling to crack. Philippe spent a while working with him trying to get him to open up, at moments it was difficult to watch because we could see him suffering but finally the mask fell and Kiki was there naked before us, Gone was the plastered on smile and the defensive posture, gone was the laughing at himself when he flopped and what we saw was on open soul, beautiful, fragile and full of humanity.
I was really glad for Kiki and touched to see him so vulnerable on stage. Philippe has promised him that he will be tough on him if he relies on his tricks anymore and I hope he does Kiki, its what Kiki wants.
I knew I wanted to get up and when Kiki sat I got up.
I went backstage with Andre, took my T-shirt off, I wanted to expose my wobbly bits. Put on the swimming cap, goggles and red nose.
Andre looked at me and said " Lets have some fun, eh?" or words to that effect.
The intro music struck up and Andre walked out on to stage.
I had seconds before I had to enter.
I shaved yesterday morning, hacked off the beard and the wispy bits that try to hide my jowels but I thought I'd leave myself a handlebar 'tache and the soul spot under the bottom lip.
I hadn't seen my face since shaving, when Andre entered I caught sight of my reflection in the window and smiled as I looked ridiculous.
half a second later I was on stage kept buoyant by the feeling of ridiculousness.
Philippe is right you have to feel ridiculous, without it how can you access your stupidity, so I guess this is the challenge for us wannabee clowns, how do we feel ridiculous, really ridiculous so that we can walk out and it has already started. The motor is already running.
I donb't know what happened out there, I think it helped that Philippe gave advice about the reltionship between Clown and Monsieur Loyal. I had that to focus on.
Andre was brilliant, in the sense that light can be brilliant, he really helped light the way for me.
Instead of just saying let me see you walk like an actor he said " Have you read the scene?"
"Yes Monsieur Loyal, of course I have read the scene, I have read the whole script."
"then we'll do the scene, are you ready Mr President."
" Are you ready Mr. President"
"No thats the cue and then you walk forward and you say I am the president."
" Ah yes, of course Monsieur Loyal.........."
To be truthful even if i could remember word for word how the scene went there would be little point in me writing it here.
It wouldn't be funny to read it. If you don't believe me try reading Tristan Remy's Clown Scenes. They don't come off the page.
What I can tell you is that at one point Philippe got me to lower my voice , it went through several stages, from angry glaswegian to Tommy Cooper via Yoda and Cookie Monster but the audience seemed to really like it, that's the beautiful and the terrifying part of clown yu know instantly, either they laugh or they don't there aren't any half measures.
Philippe also pointed out that I wasn't looking at Monsieur Loyal, thatI wasn't checking in to see if Monsieur Loyal approved of my "acting". Of course the maestro was right, I was playing out front and nothing was going to Andre, but once he pointed this out we really flew.
Suddenly there was game between us and the batting back and forth of the impulse started.
Quite what happened in the rest of the number I'm not too sure. At some point we switched and I ended up directing Andre.
There was a lot of laughter, a lot and when they weren't laughing for a few seconds it felt like an hour, I don't know if medically it is possible to become addicted to laughter but I feel like I've had my first hit of an intoxicating drug and I want more.
At the end Philippe said "It's good. Very Good." Aha high praise indeed.
I spoke to Philippe today, his advice was that my ideas are good but that I need to play more (that's not exactly the way he put it, damn you short term memory)that I could pretend to be more pretentious as the director.
He also talked about being in a groove, again not his terminology, and how we need to find that thing, the motor for the ridiculous.
Again I go looking for this. I want to know how to turn it on at will, once you find this, you enter with it and immediatly the audience laugh. Oh to find this motor, then great things will be possible.
I was chatting with Ed in the cafe du depart after class and he pointed out what he thought was the reason for the exercise, that if you can play for Monsieur Loyal with pleasure and look for his approval then it is only a matter of turning 90 degrees so that you do the same but for the audience. I like this, it make sense to me.
So know as well as finding the ridiculous motor I need to turn 90 degrees.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
fridat saturday , sunday
Bit of a different reflection this one though still very much related to my time at school.
I have just finished teaching a 2 day play and clown workshop for friends and colleagues of Louise, somehow we managed to get access to a metal works factory.
Plenty big enough and tres froid.
Normally I plan my lessons on paper as I like to have a structure to what I'm teaching, but seeing as though I'm trying to learn to become a freer actor why not do the same for my teaching?
I remember reading in Clive Barkers book that he only ever planned what the first game of a session was going to be and everything else he just followed his nose.
I'm not quite there yet but instead of planning what exercise followed what instead I worked with the principles I wanted to explore, predominantly play and complicity so that was essentially what we did yesterday. Game after game after game.
Mr. Hit, skipping, slapsies, exploring the liars voice, dancing searching for the pleasure, Grandma's footsteps.
A couple of moments of uncertainty throughout the day but that can only be good. I used to have uncertain moments when I planned my lessons so this is no different with the exception that the safety net of the correctly filled in lesson plan is missing.
All in all it was pretty good I thought. a bit scrappy in parts but for a first outing unplanned, not too bad.
What I have noticed over these last 2 days is that my eye is getting a bit keener, my understanding has definitely developed and I felt more able to work with the students in front of me, particularly in the clown session this afternoon.
I didn't want to be too tough on them, we did only have 2 days, but I felt that if I were working with them longer I could challenge them more than I could have done in the past because thanks to being here I feel I have a better understanding of what I am looking for. Beginning to see what buttons to push, how I can help different people to find out what's funny about them, this is surely what a clown teacher has to do no? How can I help you discover what is funny about yu? How can I help you to discover your pleasure?
The real test of this will be in Jan when I'm hoping to run a longer workshop.
I didn't talk yet about Fridays neutral mask, Oh la la how good was this?
We worked in 2 chorus for the session, 1 chorus talking to another, the chorypheas and chorus' carried both by an element and the song of a classmate; different rhythms, different heights, different voices, different languages.
These strange rhythmic clashes and the melange of languages gave it a dream like quality, at times staggeringly beautiful?
Imagine a 5ft 2 inch young man from Singapore speaking Malay with the voice of a King or a blonde, beautiful teenage girl playing hopskotch and singing the text "The Death of Hektor" to the tune of ring a ring a roses, or a chorus crawling on its belly and shouting at the other chorus who seemingly burst into laughter for no reason at, if you can imagine it then you are some way to seeing what we saw in class on Friday and I can tell you the effect is strange, eerie and stunningly beautiful.
The lesson from this session has not quite become conscious yet, yes it was all the above to do with rhythm space, taking the road less obvious etc but I have the feeling that something more than this has sunk much deeper than first appears, maybe it will rise to the surface further down the line.
Certainly the way I feel thinking back on the session takes me to an almost mystical place in my imagination, once again the power of theatre and creativity rears its beautiful head and makes me glad I am here.
When Philippe talks of the theatre and actors in the theatre he talks of images being imprinted in the mind, on the heart, stamped on the imaginations of the spectators so that they are not the same when they leave the theatre and today we got a little taste of that.
ODE
Arthur O'Shaughnessy
(1844-1881)
We are the music-makers
and we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers
and sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers
on whom the pale moon gleams
Yet we are the movers and shakers
of the world, forever it seems.
With wonderful deathless ditties,
we build up the world's great cities
And out of a fabulous story,
we fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
shall go forth and conquer a crown
And three, with a new song's measure,
shall trample an empire down.
We, in the ages, lying
in the buried past of the earth
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
and Babel itself with our mirth,
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
to the old, of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying
or one that is coming to birth.
A breath of our inspiration
is the life of each generation;
A wondrous thing of our dreaming,
Unearthly, impossible seeming-
The soldier, the king and the peasant
are working together in one,
Till our dream shall become their present
and their work in this world shall be done.
They had no vision amazing
of the goodly house they are raising;
They had no divine foreshowing
of the land to which they are going,
But on one man's soul it hath broken
a light that doth not depart
And his look or a word he hath spoken
wrought flame in another man's heart.
And therefore to-day is thrilling
with a past day's late fulfilling;
And the multitudes are enlisted
in the faith that their fathers resisted
And, scorning the dreams of tomorrow,
and bringing to pass, as they may,
To the world for its joy or its sorrow
the dream that was scorned yesterday.
But we, with our dreaming and singing,
Ceaseless and sorrowless we!
The glory about us clinging
of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing,
O man, it must ever be
That we dwell,in our dreaming and singing,
a little apart from ye.
For we are afar with the dawning
and the suns that are not yet high,
And our of the infinite morning,
Intrepid you hear us cry-
How, spite of your human scorning,
once more God's future draws nigh,
And already goes forth the warning
that ye of the past must die.
Great hail! we cry to the comers
from the dazzling unknown shore;
Give us hither your suns and your summers
and renew our world as of yore;
You shall teach us your songs new numbers,
and things that we dreamed not before:
Yea, in spite of a dreamer who slumbers
and a singer who sings no more.
I have just finished teaching a 2 day play and clown workshop for friends and colleagues of Louise, somehow we managed to get access to a metal works factory.
Plenty big enough and tres froid.
Normally I plan my lessons on paper as I like to have a structure to what I'm teaching, but seeing as though I'm trying to learn to become a freer actor why not do the same for my teaching?
I remember reading in Clive Barkers book that he only ever planned what the first game of a session was going to be and everything else he just followed his nose.
I'm not quite there yet but instead of planning what exercise followed what instead I worked with the principles I wanted to explore, predominantly play and complicity so that was essentially what we did yesterday. Game after game after game.
Mr. Hit, skipping, slapsies, exploring the liars voice, dancing searching for the pleasure, Grandma's footsteps.
A couple of moments of uncertainty throughout the day but that can only be good. I used to have uncertain moments when I planned my lessons so this is no different with the exception that the safety net of the correctly filled in lesson plan is missing.
All in all it was pretty good I thought. a bit scrappy in parts but for a first outing unplanned, not too bad.
What I have noticed over these last 2 days is that my eye is getting a bit keener, my understanding has definitely developed and I felt more able to work with the students in front of me, particularly in the clown session this afternoon.
I didn't want to be too tough on them, we did only have 2 days, but I felt that if I were working with them longer I could challenge them more than I could have done in the past because thanks to being here I feel I have a better understanding of what I am looking for. Beginning to see what buttons to push, how I can help different people to find out what's funny about them, this is surely what a clown teacher has to do no? How can I help you discover what is funny about yu? How can I help you to discover your pleasure?
The real test of this will be in Jan when I'm hoping to run a longer workshop.
I didn't talk yet about Fridays neutral mask, Oh la la how good was this?
We worked in 2 chorus for the session, 1 chorus talking to another, the chorypheas and chorus' carried both by an element and the song of a classmate; different rhythms, different heights, different voices, different languages.
These strange rhythmic clashes and the melange of languages gave it a dream like quality, at times staggeringly beautiful?
Imagine a 5ft 2 inch young man from Singapore speaking Malay with the voice of a King or a blonde, beautiful teenage girl playing hopskotch and singing the text "The Death of Hektor" to the tune of ring a ring a roses, or a chorus crawling on its belly and shouting at the other chorus who seemingly burst into laughter for no reason at, if you can imagine it then you are some way to seeing what we saw in class on Friday and I can tell you the effect is strange, eerie and stunningly beautiful.
The lesson from this session has not quite become conscious yet, yes it was all the above to do with rhythm space, taking the road less obvious etc but I have the feeling that something more than this has sunk much deeper than first appears, maybe it will rise to the surface further down the line.
Certainly the way I feel thinking back on the session takes me to an almost mystical place in my imagination, once again the power of theatre and creativity rears its beautiful head and makes me glad I am here.
When Philippe talks of the theatre and actors in the theatre he talks of images being imprinted in the mind, on the heart, stamped on the imaginations of the spectators so that they are not the same when they leave the theatre and today we got a little taste of that.
ODE
Arthur O'Shaughnessy
(1844-1881)
We are the music-makers
and we are the dreamers of dreams,
Wandering by lone sea-breakers
and sitting by desolate streams;
World-losers and world-forsakers
on whom the pale moon gleams
Yet we are the movers and shakers
of the world, forever it seems.
With wonderful deathless ditties,
we build up the world's great cities
And out of a fabulous story,
we fashion an empire's glory:
One man with a dream, at pleasure,
shall go forth and conquer a crown
And three, with a new song's measure,
shall trample an empire down.
We, in the ages, lying
in the buried past of the earth
Built Nineveh with our sighing,
and Babel itself with our mirth,
And o'erthrew them with prophesying
to the old, of the new world's worth;
For each age is a dream that is dying
or one that is coming to birth.
A breath of our inspiration
is the life of each generation;
A wondrous thing of our dreaming,
Unearthly, impossible seeming-
The soldier, the king and the peasant
are working together in one,
Till our dream shall become their present
and their work in this world shall be done.
They had no vision amazing
of the goodly house they are raising;
They had no divine foreshowing
of the land to which they are going,
But on one man's soul it hath broken
a light that doth not depart
And his look or a word he hath spoken
wrought flame in another man's heart.
And therefore to-day is thrilling
with a past day's late fulfilling;
And the multitudes are enlisted
in the faith that their fathers resisted
And, scorning the dreams of tomorrow,
and bringing to pass, as they may,
To the world for its joy or its sorrow
the dream that was scorned yesterday.
But we, with our dreaming and singing,
Ceaseless and sorrowless we!
The glory about us clinging
of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing,
O man, it must ever be
That we dwell,in our dreaming and singing,
a little apart from ye.
For we are afar with the dawning
and the suns that are not yet high,
And our of the infinite morning,
Intrepid you hear us cry-
How, spite of your human scorning,
once more God's future draws nigh,
And already goes forth the warning
that ye of the past must die.
Great hail! we cry to the comers
from the dazzling unknown shore;
Give us hither your suns and your summers
and renew our world as of yore;
You shall teach us your songs new numbers,
and things that we dreamed not before:
Yea, in spite of a dreamer who slumbers
and a singer who sings no more.
Thursday, November 24, 2011
prancing like lions
A really good movement session today, after 2 days off it was good to get in the space with Loreedana and my classmates and dance.
When the pleasure to dance rushes up inside me it is such a wonderful feeling.
To move without care or consciousness of "do I look cool or not" ,which is often my feeling dancing in a club, is actually very liberating.
We did a great free-dance exercise. We begin dancing with a partner, then one stops while the other continues dancing until the pleasure fades, At this point you give an impulse to your partner who takes over, the key here is to notice when the pleasure is fading, I danced with Laree a bit and she was quick to point out when it started to fall down. It wasgood to hear her " No, ees falling down" because then i began to notice it more in myself.
So it's either time to change or to pass it on to my partner. A really good exercise for several things in fact; pleasure, major/ minor and the fixed point.
Yes I really enjoyed it.
Neutral Mask.
Being Lions.
I was a terrible lion especially when asked to come forwrd and give a speach about gay marriage (?) wow, difficult.
I think we looked at lions to help us be graceful, beautiful but also dangerous.
The other scenes of the day included using the lion rhythm to play gangsters who had ordered pizza and the pizza delivery boy was playing with a mouse rhythm.
We turned into a bunch terrible Noo Yoik Aytalian gayngsterz bickering about anchovies and were quickly banged off, however for me I felt there was about " seconds when i started to come alive.I was really glad of thistoo, I've had such low energy for the past week or so but know I'm starting to feel like something is coming.
Part 2 of the exercise took place in a brothel, mama mia, success for Carmen and Hannah, they were both really good. I'm so pleqsed for them especially Hannah, she's been having a bit of a nightmare for the last few weeks and today she looked amazing on stage, and very mysterious, she didn't speak too much which Philippe has been telling her about for a while and as a result we started to imagine around her.
Carmen played the madam and physically you could really see the lion there, quite beautiful to watch.
In general the girls were a lot stronger than the boys today, Katie looked like a doped up hooker, a fragile, vulnerable mess, I thought oh la la what is wrong with this one, there was a strong sense of sadness to what she was doing without Katie being sad, its hard to explain unless you were there. Either way she opened my imagination even though she was only on stage for about a minute. Powerful stuff.
I'm a bit gutted because I was backstage helping people change into costume and I missed Philippe talking about acting and character I asked Sam about it and apparently he said something like the actor does not need to think about his "character" he needs to use this rhythm or that image to support the movement and the text and the character is then born in the mind of the spectator.
I wish I could have heard it exactly, its always so inspiring to hear him speak, Gonna ask him to recap it tomorrow.
When the pleasure to dance rushes up inside me it is such a wonderful feeling.
To move without care or consciousness of "do I look cool or not" ,which is often my feeling dancing in a club, is actually very liberating.
We did a great free-dance exercise. We begin dancing with a partner, then one stops while the other continues dancing until the pleasure fades, At this point you give an impulse to your partner who takes over, the key here is to notice when the pleasure is fading, I danced with Laree a bit and she was quick to point out when it started to fall down. It wasgood to hear her " No, ees falling down" because then i began to notice it more in myself.
So it's either time to change or to pass it on to my partner. A really good exercise for several things in fact; pleasure, major/ minor and the fixed point.
Yes I really enjoyed it.
Neutral Mask.
Being Lions.
I was a terrible lion especially when asked to come forwrd and give a speach about gay marriage (?) wow, difficult.
I think we looked at lions to help us be graceful, beautiful but also dangerous.
The other scenes of the day included using the lion rhythm to play gangsters who had ordered pizza and the pizza delivery boy was playing with a mouse rhythm.
We turned into a bunch terrible Noo Yoik Aytalian gayngsterz bickering about anchovies and were quickly banged off, however for me I felt there was about " seconds when i started to come alive.I was really glad of thistoo, I've had such low energy for the past week or so but know I'm starting to feel like something is coming.
Part 2 of the exercise took place in a brothel, mama mia, success for Carmen and Hannah, they were both really good. I'm so pleqsed for them especially Hannah, she's been having a bit of a nightmare for the last few weeks and today she looked amazing on stage, and very mysterious, she didn't speak too much which Philippe has been telling her about for a while and as a result we started to imagine around her.
Carmen played the madam and physically you could really see the lion there, quite beautiful to watch.
In general the girls were a lot stronger than the boys today, Katie looked like a doped up hooker, a fragile, vulnerable mess, I thought oh la la what is wrong with this one, there was a strong sense of sadness to what she was doing without Katie being sad, its hard to explain unless you were there. Either way she opened my imagination even though she was only on stage for about a minute. Powerful stuff.
I'm a bit gutted because I was backstage helping people change into costume and I missed Philippe talking about acting and character I asked Sam about it and apparently he said something like the actor does not need to think about his "character" he needs to use this rhythm or that image to support the movement and the text and the character is then born in the mind of the spectator.
I wish I could have heard it exactly, its always so inspiring to hear him speak, Gonna ask him to recap it tomorrow.
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The risk of silence to help us dream
Bonsoir, or if you read this during the day, bonjour.
Slacked off a little yesterday and didn't bother blogging, I think I've still got enough previous blogs in the tank to justify my sqeaker from Naz.
So, yesterday, Neutral mask, we played with the rhythm of a tree, thats right folks i'm at theatre school and i played a tree.
Ah i feel like i'm home.
the difference here being that we had to have roots, apparently there is as much under the surface as there is above it, crazy, no?
We had to grow, aided by beautiful classic music and when we were at our peak Philippe and others would come round and yank at our branches, if we toppled, we sat.
First group up, timbeeeeeeer everybody.
We trees need wide bases at least this was the lesson learned from the failings of the 1st group.
If a student had a strong enough base to not be pulled over he had to speak a text as if the words were coming up from the roots.
The second part was about impulse.
1 actor stood at the back of the stage, 2 others held theri feet on the floor and the 1 st actor had to walk forward against the force of the other 2, if they didn't work hard enough monsieur gaulier had 2 others hold their arms so they had to struggle with the whole body.
The speech had to come as a result of the impulse to move.
seeing it and doing the exercise my understanding of impulse has started to deepen.
Today the mask work was really good, we played with the rhythm of fats; clotted cream,, butter, sunflower oil.
as normal we began our movement on the floor.
part 2 was to enter as if we were an 80 year old star, Maria Callas, Alec Guinnes, John Gielgud, walk down stage, sit on a chair and say" My name is Mark Winstanley, I am from Manchester, thankyou for joining me her today..."
The lesson here seemed to be about silence. If we rush we leave no space for the audience to dream but in the silences an audience can imagine around us.
As Philippe said, it is a risk for the actor to leave such long silences but as an audience we think Oh-la-la who is this person speaking to us.
So I move forward with hope that one day a paying public willdream around me, that I will give food to their imagination and they can feast on my pleasure and my aura.
Surely it is food for the soul.
Slacked off a little yesterday and didn't bother blogging, I think I've still got enough previous blogs in the tank to justify my sqeaker from Naz.
So, yesterday, Neutral mask, we played with the rhythm of a tree, thats right folks i'm at theatre school and i played a tree.
Ah i feel like i'm home.
the difference here being that we had to have roots, apparently there is as much under the surface as there is above it, crazy, no?
We had to grow, aided by beautiful classic music and when we were at our peak Philippe and others would come round and yank at our branches, if we toppled, we sat.
First group up, timbeeeeeeer everybody.
We trees need wide bases at least this was the lesson learned from the failings of the 1st group.
If a student had a strong enough base to not be pulled over he had to speak a text as if the words were coming up from the roots.
The second part was about impulse.
1 actor stood at the back of the stage, 2 others held theri feet on the floor and the 1 st actor had to walk forward against the force of the other 2, if they didn't work hard enough monsieur gaulier had 2 others hold their arms so they had to struggle with the whole body.
The speech had to come as a result of the impulse to move.
seeing it and doing the exercise my understanding of impulse has started to deepen.
Today the mask work was really good, we played with the rhythm of fats; clotted cream,, butter, sunflower oil.
as normal we began our movement on the floor.
part 2 was to enter as if we were an 80 year old star, Maria Callas, Alec Guinnes, John Gielgud, walk down stage, sit on a chair and say" My name is Mark Winstanley, I am from Manchester, thankyou for joining me her today..."
The lesson here seemed to be about silence. If we rush we leave no space for the audience to dream but in the silences an audience can imagine around us.
As Philippe said, it is a risk for the actor to leave such long silences but as an audience we think Oh-la-la who is this person speaking to us.
So I move forward with hope that one day a paying public willdream around me, that I will give food to their imagination and they can feast on my pleasure and my aura.
Surely it is food for the soul.
Monday, November 21, 2011
Monday, week 7
Another day done,
Today I had a good feeling in movement, we sweat a lot through dance and stretching and games; it was lots of FUN.
Dancing with a partner in the middle of the circle the body moves without the head judging or trying to lead what's next, surely this lesson, if it could be applied to whenever I was on the stage would help me well on my way to regular acting work.
The problem is the head it seems and such a simple exercise as dancing, lost in pleasure and fun with the partner helps me to see how easy it is when the body does what it does in response to the music.
How to do it without the music is the challenge and the work.
Neutral Mask.
Playing with the rhythm of an animal.
At the weekend Philippe said we would need to study an animal for today.
I went to the zoo with a few classmates.
It was closed.
So to the aquarium we went.
I looked at fish.
Today I tried a fish.
Apparently my fish was "Omosexual".
After this we tried to be actors in Greece 2500 years ago.
The exercise, the actor warms up.
Banned were any actor stretches or bobbity bippity vocal warm up's we were to try and speak the text (the death of Hektor) as if we were backstage before the show.
Aha, a chance to play with the voice.
I sang the text a bit trying to have some fun and then came the drum.
"Mak, when ee touch iz stomach like this do we think he is a dramatic actor or do we fink eez advert for bad inglish sandweech?"
So don't touch the body.
I'm a numpty because only 20 seconds earlier he mentioned to Jamie about touching his legs.
He did the same exercise with several people.
He put on a part of Verdi's requiem when the horns build and build and build and it clamaxes in the human voice.
Philippe did this in Le Jeu to help us to be carried by the music.
I'm coming back to being carried again, something has to carry us on stage, then we are never alone.
Today several people played the exercise as if it was the one from le jeu and it wasn't.
After a while he said that we were too solemn ( I think that was the word he used) and that we need to have more fun.
Clown
Again we watched several numbers and even though they flopped Philippe used them to help demonstarte how necessary it is for the clown to look to his friend with admiration, without the feeling that my friend is a genius it falls down.
If your friend does something shit and you look at him as if he is a genius you save the show.
Quote of the day went something like this;
"You are two friends going out to do a number, not two people doing a number trying to find their friendship."
The last exercise of the day was this:
Romeo and Juliet.
For 2 clowns.
The actors due to play the show are stuck in an airport, 1 in New York, the other in Berlin, the planes have gone on strike. The audience are in the house and are getting restless.
It is at a rough theatre in Paris.
The show was due to start at 9 and it is now 9:20 they chant "money back, money back"
The 2 clowns sell ice-cream in the theatre and if they are lucky they may do 1 minute of material.
The theatre manager comes up to 2 clowns and says if you save the show I will ring the king of Sweden to see that you get the Nobel prize for clown and so 2 clowns go out on stage to save the show.
After being out with Ed we were boomed off.
Philippe said that he saw our panic and not the pleasure of the clown who might change his life.
I was chatting with Ben Cutler a few weeks back and he said that Philippe painted very visual images for the students in class and here was a brilliant example but I didn't enter into it.
The clown could change his life.
Once again it didn't matter enough to the clown because if it did I would have shown my pleasure.
The pleasure to play for the audience for an hour and a half.
The pleasure to play wasn't there.
No contact with them neither.
When will this click?
Will it click?
When will my pleasure shine through?
Will I make more discoveries?
When will I see this workshop as a new audience?
When will I roll up my sleeves, spit on my palms and make it matter?
Will it matter?
It has to matter.
Has to.
Or else why am I here?
Today I had a good feeling in movement, we sweat a lot through dance and stretching and games; it was lots of FUN.
Dancing with a partner in the middle of the circle the body moves without the head judging or trying to lead what's next, surely this lesson, if it could be applied to whenever I was on the stage would help me well on my way to regular acting work.
The problem is the head it seems and such a simple exercise as dancing, lost in pleasure and fun with the partner helps me to see how easy it is when the body does what it does in response to the music.
How to do it without the music is the challenge and the work.
Neutral Mask.
Playing with the rhythm of an animal.
At the weekend Philippe said we would need to study an animal for today.
I went to the zoo with a few classmates.
It was closed.
So to the aquarium we went.
I looked at fish.
Today I tried a fish.
Apparently my fish was "Omosexual".
After this we tried to be actors in Greece 2500 years ago.
The exercise, the actor warms up.
Banned were any actor stretches or bobbity bippity vocal warm up's we were to try and speak the text (the death of Hektor) as if we were backstage before the show.
Aha, a chance to play with the voice.
I sang the text a bit trying to have some fun and then came the drum.
"Mak, when ee touch iz stomach like this do we think he is a dramatic actor or do we fink eez advert for bad inglish sandweech?"
So don't touch the body.
I'm a numpty because only 20 seconds earlier he mentioned to Jamie about touching his legs.
He did the same exercise with several people.
He put on a part of Verdi's requiem when the horns build and build and build and it clamaxes in the human voice.
Philippe did this in Le Jeu to help us to be carried by the music.
I'm coming back to being carried again, something has to carry us on stage, then we are never alone.
Today several people played the exercise as if it was the one from le jeu and it wasn't.
After a while he said that we were too solemn ( I think that was the word he used) and that we need to have more fun.
Clown
Again we watched several numbers and even though they flopped Philippe used them to help demonstarte how necessary it is for the clown to look to his friend with admiration, without the feeling that my friend is a genius it falls down.
If your friend does something shit and you look at him as if he is a genius you save the show.
Quote of the day went something like this;
"You are two friends going out to do a number, not two people doing a number trying to find their friendship."
The last exercise of the day was this:
Romeo and Juliet.
For 2 clowns.
The actors due to play the show are stuck in an airport, 1 in New York, the other in Berlin, the planes have gone on strike. The audience are in the house and are getting restless.
It is at a rough theatre in Paris.
The show was due to start at 9 and it is now 9:20 they chant "money back, money back"
The 2 clowns sell ice-cream in the theatre and if they are lucky they may do 1 minute of material.
The theatre manager comes up to 2 clowns and says if you save the show I will ring the king of Sweden to see that you get the Nobel prize for clown and so 2 clowns go out on stage to save the show.
After being out with Ed we were boomed off.
Philippe said that he saw our panic and not the pleasure of the clown who might change his life.
I was chatting with Ben Cutler a few weeks back and he said that Philippe painted very visual images for the students in class and here was a brilliant example but I didn't enter into it.
The clown could change his life.
Once again it didn't matter enough to the clown because if it did I would have shown my pleasure.
The pleasure to play for the audience for an hour and a half.
The pleasure to play wasn't there.
No contact with them neither.
When will this click?
Will it click?
When will my pleasure shine through?
Will I make more discoveries?
When will I see this workshop as a new audience?
When will I roll up my sleeves, spit on my palms and make it matter?
Will it matter?
It has to matter.
Has to.
Or else why am I here?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)